You must be a bass player

[Pilgrim]

It only takes one time of being unprepared to motivate one to start preparing for the next one...

That's how a pro learns...the first time. After that, being a pro means never letting it happen again!

 

[Dincrest]

Great story. And I too always come very prepared for gigs, speaking engagements, group bicycle rides, etc. and it's always appreciated.

It's also interesting how many of simply exude that "bass player" aura. Like, I remember this one time circa 2006 when I was at a July 4th party. I was talking with a group that included friends and people I didn't know. One of the people I hadn't met before (a young lady) said to me, "Oh, you're sitting in with my cousin's band? Cool. What instrument to you play, no wait, lemme guess..." (she looks me up and down for maybe 2-3 seconds) "You're a bass player, aren't you!"

I exclaimed, "Yeah! How'd you guess?"

She replied, "I dunno... something about you just says 'bass player.'"

 

[tedious1]

It's also a curse...Feels like two weeks of prep and two more of tear-down when Mrs. Tedious and I go camping for a weekend because of all the spare stuff I've gotten into habit of taking along...

 

[Holdsg]

I'm the guy, in nearly every band I've ever been in, to be asked...d'you have a...

tuner
strap
needle nose pliers
screwdriver
ear plugs (seriously)
pick
set list (not the band leader)
extra XLR cable
extra 1/4 inch cable

fortunately, yes, I carry pretty much all of those at any point in time, including a set of guitar strings.

but, interestingly enough, not a capo (yet!)

 

[4dog]

wow ...except for the bass player part..im nothing like yall.

 

[Spectrum]

I also carry lots of extra stuff, including an XLR cable, and extra mic, a mic stand in my truck (which is for me when I need to sing backup) a clip-on tuner and spare guitar strings for you-know-who.

The thing about this stuff is that when a guitarist asks me for strings or a power cable for his amp (which he somehow keeps losing), I don't give it to him right away. I pretend I need to dig in my bag to "see if I have it with me", and let him sweat for a little while. Finally, whgen all else fails I "discover" it in my bag just in time.

After a few times he eventually starts to remember to bring his own kit. But he's not a bass player, so he'll never be quite as prepared. No matter, still love the guy lol.

 

[43ManSquamish]

Good story! Glad we're known as "the ready ones".

I was expecting a Jeff Foxworthy-style post: "if you have things in your gig bag that aren't even remotely related to the instrument you play... you must be a bass player!"

 

[hardtop]

I have a similar story. I was recently playing a joint in LA that had a room upstairs and downstairs. We played the upstairs room and they had us store our deads near the staff stair case that lead down to the lower level venue. Our shows over and we're packing up so I am going over to grab our cases. As I dig out the guitar cases, and a server/bar tender is coming up the stairs. I was kind of in her way so I excuse myself, put the case in my hand down, and slide over to make a little room for her. She starts to clock out and tells me she got cut early and I told her to enjoy the rest of her night. She says "you must be a bass player" I tell he yes and ask how she knew? "because you have manners" she says. "If you were a guitarist you would have made me wait on the stairs while you dug out your crap". She added "you also wouldn't have said 'excuse me' " I'm laughing with her at this point. I asked her why she felt that way. She tells me that she's been working venues in LA for 15 years and the bass players are always the nicest guys. She was quick to add that sometimes everyone in the band is a dick, but the bass players are always the least "dickish". I love this woman.

 

[vvvmmm]

When I'm on guitar I'm all over the place improv'ing, volume and sound wise; when I'm on bass I am the pocket, I'm solid and organized.

Until it's time not to be.

But yeah, extra everything including some of theirs; I even carry an extra head in the boot can be guitar or bass.

 

[Engle]

We are the Mom’s of the group...

 

[Spectrum]

I even carry an extra head in the boot can be guitar or bass.

Yeah, that's another thing: I use my Rickenbacker's "Ric-o-Sound" feature and I bring a guitar head for the bright channel. Once when my guitarist's amp failed I let him use it and fell back to single-channel setup.

So in a way I even back up the guitarist's amp.

 

[vvvmmm]

Musicman HD130 for me ...

 

[pbass2]

So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs...

Dude, you sound like me. I over-prepare (in other people's opinions) for everything. Even when I travel. So needless to say, I don't travel as light as I'd like!

 

[NZBassman]

She says "you must be a bass player" I tell he yes and ask how she knew? "because you have manners" she says. "If you were a guitarist you would have made me wait on the stairs while you dug out your crap". She added "you also wouldn't have said 'excuse me' " I'm laughing with her at this point. I asked her why she felt that way. She tells me that she's been working venues in LA for 15 years and the bass players are always the nicest guys. She was quick to add that sometimes everyone in the band is a dick, but the bass players are always the least "dickish". I love this woman.

I hope you proposed to her there and then - because this woman's a keeper!

 

[Pilgrim]

A friend of mine once said "You know you're traveling too much when you can pack for a week-long trip in 10 minutes."

She was right, and I've been there, but I always end up with extra stuff that I don't wear on the trip. Contingencies, y'know.

 

[pbass2]

Great story. And I too always come very prepared for gigs, speaking engagements, group bicycle rides, etc.

I hear ya, cyclist here too. I can't even remember how many times I've fixed other rider's flats! I'm fully tubeless now, so I don't get them myself, but I still have the required fixes in my frame bag--it's always other people who end up using them

 

[NZBassman]

A friend of mine once said "You know you're traveling too much when you can pack for a week-long trip in 10 minutes."

She was right, and I've been there, but I always end up with extra stuff that I don't wear on the trip. Contingencies, y'know.

Years ago my EX's parents were going overseas on a holiday and the father hadn't even packed his suitcase (we were dropping them off at the airport) the mother throws him a suitcase and said you've got 15 minutes!
he replied "What am I going to do with the other 10 minutes"!

 

[two fingers]

So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs...

That sounds exactly like how I would have prepared. So maybe there's something to your theory.

 

[iiipopes]

So I had a somewhat important presentation yesterday at work, and since it was not in our own building, and involved some local political players, I prepared a lot of things. The political players really only meant that there was oversight at a level where critical feedback on our presentation would shine a negative light on our organization, but there was still pressure to get it right.

I was confident in our content and knew the presentation itself would be fine, but I had no idea what the room setup would be, so I brought my laptop bag with cords, etc. Plus a 50' extension cord, portable flip-chart, portable projection screen and a box with sticky notes, paper, paper copies of the presentation (in case power was a no-go), markers, and pens so people could write in the break-out session.

I showed up 30 minutes early to set up, and laid my stuff on the table at the front. The room was actually pretty well set up and I didn't need about 80% of what I brought. One of our executives that I don't know very well came in early too and came over to visit and glad-hand me. He commented on how much stuff I had and I told him I didn't know the room so wanted to be prepared. He said "You must be a bass player!" with a big grin.

I told him I am in fact a bass player and he admitted he plays as well, but not currently in a band. We laughed about how you can tell a bass player by the over-preparedness for a 'gig'. Nice little bonding moment, and now I'm hoping I may have some hidden executive support for my programs...

Oh, do I resemble this remark! Great job!

 

[ChrisBowsman]

My dad plays mandolin in several bluegrass bands. He was playing at a festival, and realized he’d left his container of picks at home.

Guess who not only offered him a pick, but his choice of several different ones